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The electronic structure of BiVO4 has been studied by x-ray photoelectron, x-ray absorption, and x-ray emission spectroscopies, in comparison with density functional theory calculations. Our results confirm both the direct band gap of 2.48 eV and that the Bi 6s electrons hybridize with O 2p to form antibonding 'lone pair' states at the top of the valence band. The results highlight the suitability of combining s2 and d0 cations to produce photoactive ternary oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valence and conduction band structures of In2O3 have been measured using a combination of valence band x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, O K-edge resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy, and O K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Excellent agreement is noted between the experimental spectra and O 2p partial density of states calculated within hybrid density functional theory. Our data are consistent with a direct band gap for In2O3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin films of In2O3 have been grown on Y-stabilized ZrO2(100) by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy with a substrate temperature of 650 °C. Ordered epitaxial growth was confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The position of the valence band onset in the x-ray photoemission spectra of the epitaxial films is found to be inconsistent with the widely quoted value of 3.75 eV for the fundamental bandgap of In2O3 and suggests a revised value of 2.67 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic structure of BiVO4 has been studied by x-ray photoelectron, x-ray absorption, and x-ray emission spectroscopies, in comparison with density functional theory calculations. Our results confirm both the direct band gap of 2.48 eV and that the Bi 6s electrons hybridize with O 2p to form antibonding 'lone pair' states at the top of the valence band. The results highlight the suitability of combining s2 and d0 cations to produce photoactive ternary oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic structure of IrO2 has been investigated using hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density-functional theory. Excellent agreement is observed between theory and experiment. We show that the electronic structure of IrO2 involves crystal field splitting of the iridium 5d orbitals in a distorted octahedral field. The behavior of IrO2 closely follows the dieoretical predictions of Goodenough for conductive rutile-structured oxides [J. B. Goodenough, J. Solid State Chem. 3, 490 (1971)]. Strong satellites associated with the core lines are ascribed to final state screening effects. A simple plasmon model for the satellites applicable to many other metallic oxides appears to be not valid for IrO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Poisson ratio ν of In2O3 has been determined by measurement of the covariation of in-plane and out-of- plane lattice parameters of strained thin films grown epitaxially on (111) and (001) oriented cubic Y-stabilized ZrO2 substrates. The experimental results are in good agreement with values for ν calculated using atomistic simulation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic structure of single-crystal WO3 and Na0.67WO3 (a sodium-tungsten bronze) has been measured using soft x-ray absorption and resonant soft x-ray emission oxygen K-edge spectroscopies. The spectral features show clear differences in energy and intensity between WO3 and Na0.67WO3. The x-ray emission spectrum of metallic Na0.67WO3 terminates in a distinct Fermi edge. The rigid-band model fails to explain the electronic structure of Na0.67WO3 in terms of a simple addition of electrons to the conduction band of WO3. Instead, Na bonding and Na 3s-O 2p hybridization need to be considered for the sodium-tungsten bronze, along with occupation of the bottom of the conduction band. Furthermore, the anisotropy in the band structure of monoclinic γ-WO3 revealed by the experimental spectra with orbital-resolved geometry is explained via density functional theory calculations. For γ-WO3 itself, good agreement is found between the experimental O K-edge spectra and the theoretical partial density of states of O 2p orbitals. Indirect and direct bandgaps of insulating WO3 are determined from extrapolating separations between spectral leading edges and accounting for the core-hole energy shift in the absorption process. The O 2p non-bonding states show upward band dispersion as a function of incident photon energy for both compounds, which is explained using the calculated band structure and experimental geometry.

Bulk and surface sensitive x-ray spectroscopic techniques are applied in tandem to show that the valence band edge for In2O3 is found significantly closer to the bottom of the conduction band than expected on the basis of the widely quoted bulk band gap of 3.75 eV. First-principles theory shows that the upper valence bands of In2O3 exhibit a small dispersion and the conduction band minimum is positioned at Gamma. However, direct optical transitions give a minimal dipole intensity until 0.8 eV below the valence band maximum. The results set an upper limit on the fundamental band gap of 2.9 eV.